[at-l] Clothing

[bennettk at wfu.edu (ken bennett)]

On 2/15/05 1:22 AM, "Matt Case" <wickedfool@wickedfool.com> wrote:

> Different brands seem to vary so much in price, I wonder if
> some clothing was really worth it.


You've been looking at the Patagonia display again, haven't you? Stop that
right now <grin>.

You're right, though, in that similar items of clothing can have wildly
different prices. My lovely wife wants a pair of expedition-weight long john
bottoms. At our local outfitter, the Patagonia R-1 bottoms are $80, and the
Layers Polartec 100 bottoms are $15 (on sale, but still). I suspect the
Patagonia are better made and will last longer, but 5x longer? Dunno about
that.

Some clothing is just wildly expensive because of hype or (sometimes) the
cost of the fabric. Softshells using Schoeller fabrics are one such garment,
and I think they suffer from both (but mostly hype).

For the basic wardrobe items -- nylon shorts, synthetic tee-shirts, fleece
tops, raingear -- you can probably buy on price and features. I like
Columbia shorts for hiking, the ones with the built-in liner, and I can get
them on sale for <$20 around here. The large retailers like EMS and REI sell
their own house brands of clothing, and you can get some *very* good deals,
especially at end-of-season sales.

You mentioned Underarmour. I have met a couple of hikers wearing UA tops,
who seemed very pleased with them. (One guy bought it at a thrift store, and
he was just plain happy happy.)

When you start talking about more specialized clothing -- down jackets,
winter gloves, ultralight wind shells -- that's when I start looking very
carefully at the differences between brands. I can get a down jacket from
EMS for about $75 on sale, but it's going to be much heavier and not as warm
as the Western Mountaineering jacket for $200. But in the winter, weight and
bulk matter a lot, as does warmth, so I'll look really hard at my wallet and
buy the better jacket.

Hope this helps.

Ken